Of Dances and Death Eaters
by IsOkayGood
Summary: Lily Evans needs a date to the Christmas Ball; the problem? She's torn between a pale Slytherin Potions genius and a Gryffindor Quidditch Captain. Who will she choose? SS/LE JP/LE
1. Conflicts

_Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, obviously JK Rowling's._

_Summary: Lily Evans needs a date; the problem? She's torn between a pale Slytherin Potions genius and a Gryffindor Quidditch Captain. Who will she choose?_

_Reviews would be wonderful._

~1~

A young fifth year Lily Evans found herself panicking at the sight of the blinding snow outside her dormitory window; it was the solid reminder that she still had not found a date for the upcoming Christmas Ball. She and Severus Snape, her very best friend, had planned on going together, but for reasons he refused to disclose, he had backed out that afternoon.

"Lily, I don't know why you don't just take Potter."

Mary MacDonald, her fellow Gryffindor dorm-mate, collapsed onto her bed.

"Mary, I would rather go alone than ever take that git. You should know that by now." Lily looked impatiently over at the messy haired brunette.

"I don't understand why you don't like him; he's handsome, he's smart and he's the Quidditch Captain."

Lily rolled her eyes and sighed. She'd heard this speech from just about every Gryffindor, including Potter himself, more times than she could count. In fact there were many reasons why she refused to dance with, or for that matter date, James Potter. Most of these reasons, she admitted didn't matter that much, though they certainly didn't help his chances, but one she vowed never to say yes to him for.

"How am I supposed to like him when he tortures my best friend?"

Her mind flashed with various horrible pranks the Marauders had played on Severus throughout the years, most of them orchestrated by Potter or his best friend Sirius Black. One particularly nasty time, she remembered, he had to stay in the hospital wing for almost two weeks after Potter and Black decided to show him their animagus forms.

"Why are you even friends with him?" Mary sat back up, "I heard he's planning on becoming a Death Eater."

"You're going to take everything that comes out of Potter's mouth as the truth? Severus is my friend, I would know if he were becoming one of them. I know you don't like him, but you're going to have to deal with that. Anyway," she changed the subject, not wanting to go over this again, "you like James, why don't _you_ ask him?"

"He said no. You're the only girl he'll say yes to."

Lily couldn't help but laugh a little. You could say a lot about James Potter, but you couldn't say he wasn't persistent.

~2~

Potions was Lily's favourite class for two reasons; she was quite talented when it came to the subject, as Slughorn liked to remind her, and because it was the only class she could sit next to Severus in.

As she walked to her usual seat, she couldn't help but notice that Severus was looking worried and even more pale than usual.

"Something wrong?"

He looked up at her and she could tell something was wrong. She had known him since they were young and she could always tell. He would get the same look in his eye when she found him down by the river after his parents had been fighting.

His eye kept wandering over to two Slytherin boys named Avery and Mulciber, obviously not paying attention to her.

"That's why you're not coming with me to the Ball, isn't it? They don't want you taking a muggleborn."

He looked back suddenly.

"Oh, hi Lily. Uh... no, that's... that's not why."

She waited quietly for him to continue.

"It's just..." he continued, his pale cheeks flushed red quickly, "I... I... I uh don't know how to dance..."

"C'mon Sev, everyone can dance."

He shook his head still seemingly distracted the boys who now seemed to be staring at both of them. Both Avery and Mulciber were not considered the brightest, and frankly Lily never took much notice of either of them until she noticed that Severus had become close with them. Everyone knew that they both were planning on becoming Death Eaters. She glared over Severus' shoulder at them, knowing for now that that was all she could do.

"I really can't."

"Well, I guess I'll just have to teach you then." This sparked a look of fear in his eye that made her laugh.

"I'm not that bad, you know."

"No, I..."

She simply rolled her eyes and stood up as the bell rang.

"Tomorrow night, eight o'clock, here in the potions room. Slughorn probably won't mind."

As she waved goodbye to him, she could see a smirk crawl across his face, even though he was still blushing quite noticeably. He was likely over ecstatic to know that James would despise Lily doing anything that would mean Severus touching her.

~3~

As Lily was making her way to Charms, she could see a group of Slytherins giving her the same look she had been given by Avery and Mulciber earlier, which made sense when she noticed them among the group. Also among the group she spotted Severus' face, the only one not looking angry, but more scared and sorry. That's when she began to worry a little.

She made on her way, only to loop right back around to listen in on their conversation. Severus refused to tell her what they talk about, and she thought it was about time she knew.

"Please tell me you're not going with the mudblood." Lily flinched, disgusted by how easily they threw around such a word. "You'll never get in if you do. The Dark Lord does not approve of such filth."

"Listen, I'll take you if you can't find anyone else." She recognized the voice of Sirius' cousin Bellatrix Black.

"Bella, I don't need your help. I was... just on my way to ask that one Ravenclaw girl, I don't remember her name... she's one of us don't worry."

Lily's anger boiled to the surface and she couldn't stand to listen to it any longer. Finally making her way to Charms, she wondered if she should even bother going to teach him to dance. He _promised_ that he wasn't going to turn into one of them. She didn't know what to think, not that she had time to anyway. It seemed to have slipped her mind that she also had Charms with the Slytherins, even if they were on the other side of the room.

She could see his dark eyes looking over at her, and quickly looked away, feeling for some reason, almost as guilty as he looked.

~End of Chapter~

_I'll probably have the next chapter up soon, in the meantime I'd love to hear your opinions. Thanks for reading._


	2. Confrontation

_Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, JK Rowling's._

~1~

"Sev," Lily had caught up to him after class. "I need to talk to you."

"Can't it wait?"

"No, this is important. Is there somewhere else you need to be?"

"I... uh... no, I guess it can wait." He said, looking anxiously at the group of Slytherins that passed them.

"Sev... I overheard your conversation earlier, with your... _friends_."

She knew that she had struck something when his head snapped quickly back towards her. She found herself unable to read his expression, but she could tell he was uncomfortable with what she had said by the way he had clenched his jaw.

"And what did you hear?" his voice had sounded much more harsh and cold than he had meant it to.

"You said you were going to take some Ravenclaw girl to the Christmas Ball. I thought we were going together, or was I right about how you don't want to be seen with... how did you put it... 'my kind'?"

"Lily, I... I didn't mean it. I wouldn't do something like that without telling you."

Even if he had seemed sincere about it, the way he said 'without telling you' made Lily's stomach queasy. She knew that he would do anything to impress others, but it hurt her to think that he would even consider taking someone else after they had made plans to go together.

"So you're telling me you lied to them? Won't they be angry if they see you with me there?"

"Of course I lied. And they will but..." he focused his gaze on his shoes.

"But?"

"Nothing..."

She never did get an answer to what he had meant by that. She could only hope that it meant he would rather keep their friendship than risk losing it for them. She reassured herself that he _had _promised her not to become one of them, and she had never know him to go back on promises, especially when it came to issues as big as this. Reminding herself this, he stomach had settled a little, though she still couldn't help but worry.

"I've got to go; I've... got lots of homework to do."

"Wait," she said, grabbing him by the arm, "about tomorrow..."

"Oh right," he smiled back, "I'll meet you there at eight."

~2~

"I'm going to kill him."

"Mary, settle down. Even though I'd be more than happy to let you kill Black, it's still not likely to do much good."

"But Lily, how does he expect me to go to the Ball without a dress?"

Lily watched Mary pace across the Gryffindor common room for what seemed like the millionth time that night. As it seemed, Mary had come back from Charms to find that Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew had found an old vanishing cabinet in the Room of Requirement and decided to have some fun with it.

"McGonagall said that no one knows where the other cabinet is. Now I have to go to Hogsmeade tomorrow to get a new one, which means I'll probably have to spend the rest of the weekend finishing my homework, and they lost us fifty points... each! We're now behind Slytherin and everyone's furious. Please tell me you are going to come with me?"

"To Hogsmeade?" Lily sighed. It was her responsibility as a Prefect to keep the Marauders in line. "Sure."

Lily found herself slightly frustrated by the fact that Mary was distracting her, after all, she had more pressing matters on her mind. She couldn't tell Mary her worries about Severus, all she would get from her was an "I told you he was no good."

"So, who are you taking anyway?"

"Severus." Said Lily, hoping Mary wouldn't voice her opinion of him once again.

"Oh... well guess who I'm taking."

Lily rolled her eyes, knowing that Mary would probably take anyone that said yes. Not that most people would say no, Lily noted, she was after all quite pretty; though she had managed to set her heart on James Potter, who was likely to say no. Lily wished for both of them that he would just say yes to Mary and leave her alone.

"Um, that Hufflepuff... Walker... what's his name again?"

"You mean Jason? No, he's taking Angelina."

"So...?"

"Oh right, I'm going with Remus."

"Remus?" Lily giggled. "As in Remus Lupin?"

Mary shook her head and Lily found herself unable to believe this. She had known Remus since their first year at Hogwarts, and knew he was the total opposite of Mary's personality. She was outspoken and considered quite obnoxious by many other Hogwarts students, though Lily didn't mind much, while Remus was quite and spent most of his time reading in the common room.

"Isn't it amazing?"

"Yes, yes it is." Lily smiled and shook her head.

She made a note to herself to ask Remus about this, knowing it was likely that she hadn't even asked him yet, but merely assumed he would say yes.

She picked up her Potions book and began working. She already had a full day coming up tomorrow with her Hogsmeade trip with Mary and her dance lessons with Severus, so if she were ever going to get her homework done, she was going to have to start now.

~End of Chapter~

_Next chapter will likely be up sometime soon. Thanks for reading, reviews are always welcome._

_There will probably be about three or four more chapters to this fic._


	3. Caught

_Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, I am not JK Rowling._

~1~

"So, Mary MacDonald?" Lily nudged Remus in Transfiguration.

"She told you?"

"Remus," she giggled, "this is Mary. She couldn't keep the smallest thing secret, let alone something like this."

He sighed; he didn't look exactly as excited about the prospect of going with Mary as she had. He looked ragged and exhausted which reminded Lily that that night would be a full moon. She hated seeing him have to go through something so awful every single month, it wasn't even his fault. The man that had bitten him, Fenrir Greyback, was known for trying to infect as many people as possible with Lycanthropy, and Remus was just another of victims.

"About the dance anyway..." he continued, "James has been behaving himself lately, I think you should give him a chance."

"I guess he has... but even if that is true, he's already too late. I'm already going with Severus."

"So you mean I'm going to have to continue hearing his rants about you..."

"Sorry... but tell him he might want to keep going like this, and I _might_ think about changing my mind in a million years or so."

Remus rolled his eyes and continued trying to vanish his snail, which had been trying it's best to get away from him.

~2~

"What about this one?" Mary held up a sparkling blue sequined dress.

"Only if you want to resemble a muggle disco ball."

Mary and Lily had been in Gladrags Wizardwear for over an hour already, making their way through the seemingly endless racks of quirky clothes looking for a dress that wouldn't get her laughed out of the dance. They had already come across a horrid rainbow one, at least three that resembled what muggles used to wear in the 1700's, along with dozens of others they quickly discarded.

Lily pulled out a pale yellow gown that was the first she had even seen in this shop that would work. Mary automatically rushed off to the change-room with it as Lily waited, mindlessly going through their selection of assorted and equally strange socks.

"It's perfect!" Mary yelled from the change-room.

After spending about five minutes listening to her friend ramble on about the dress, Lily finally managed to convince Mary to buy it and leave.

It was in the late afternoon by the time they found themselves back on the Hogsmeade street, which seemed quite empty as they were used to having come with a large amount of Hogwarts students. A few wizards and witches passed them occasionally, not bothering even a glance.

"Looky, looky. What do we have here?" A frizzy black haired girl had snuck up behind Mary and snatched the dress out of her hands.

"Bellatrix, what do you want?" Lily snapped.

"Come on, we're all friends here."

Rodolphus Lestrange, a dark haired boy came to Bellatrix's side, giving Lily the signature snarled look she was used to seeing from the Slytherins. Mary kept quiet, returning a glare at both of them.

"I just came to give you a friendly warning about Severus," she smirked, "you don't know him as well as you think you do. He may not be your friend for much longer."

"What are you on about?"

"Ah, Little Lily Evans thinks Sevvy wants to spend his life friends with a mudblood."

Lily had to fight the urge to curse Bellatrix right there, but held back knowing that giving into the taunting is just what she wanted.

"I've known him for much longer than you have."

"You think so?" she grinned wickedly. "Do you think you know what he really is? If you only knew the things he thinks of people like you..."

She grabbed Mary's dress back, glaring Bellatrix walked away, knowing she and Mary were expected back at the castle soon.

"Watch your back Little Lily." Bellatrix and Rodolphus howled with laughter as they were leaving.

~3~

Lily paced the length of the Potions room again, wondering were Severus could be. He was already half an hour late, but she would rather wait then go down to the Slytherin common room looking for him, not with them around.

"Finally!" she said, as the door creaked open. "Where have you been?"

"Sorry. I was... busy."

He looked worried and unsure about what to do, but Lily grabbed him by the hand and started right away. Slughorn had given them only two hours time that night, and thirty minutes of it had already gone to waste.

"So, what do I do?"

Severus just stood there awkwardly. She knew that he wasn't the kind of person who had spent much time dancing with girls, as he was usually too busy surrounded by steaming cauldrons and textbooks to be bothered with such things.

"Your arms go here," she said, putting his arms around her waist. He flinched giving her an odd look that made her giggle a little. "And just follow my feet and please... try not to step on them."

After many a trampled toe, Lily could see real improvement in Severus. He had, it seemed, gained a little more confidence when it came to this. A smile had spread across, she noticed, about twenty minutes in, that had seemed to stay there.

All of a sudden, Severus stopped in his tracks, his eyes fixed on the door. The heavy figure of Mulciber stood in the shadows of the doorway, glaring at them, and Severus jerked his arms away from Lily. She couldn't read his face, which was a special talent Severus had. When he didn't want anyone to know how he was feeling, he would lock his face from all emotion.

"Sev..." she whispered, as she watched Mulciber leave. "Please don't leave."

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have... I have to go."

~End of Chapter~

_Thanks for reading. As always, reviews would be lovely. Also, thanks to everyone who has reviewed._

_The next chapter should be up soon._

_Authors note: I do know that Bellatrix has graduated by this point; I just like her as a character and thought she'd add an interesting element. Also for Lily knowing about Lupin's problem, Lupin was really close with Lily as he's pointed out, so I think by this time she could have figured it out for herself._

_As for Severus, the fact that the future Death Eaters are willing to be his friend, even if it is under certain circumstances, is something he doesn't have often. So it's not so much that he's scared of them, but more that he's desperate to seek their approval. When it comes to Lily being worried about their friendship, I think that she also at this point in time, wants to keep the friendship considering it had been going so long. _

_However; I do see the mistake in the timeline of James, Sirius and Peter becoming animagi. So this story may not be the most canon compliant, sorry, but I'm trying to keep it as close as possible. Thank you to reviewer Alex for the review._


	4. Charms

_Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, I am not JK Rowling._

~1~

By noon that Sunday morning, Lily found herself drowning in the last weekend's worth of homework before the Christmas break. She didn't even have time to think of the Christmas Ball that was fast approaching.

"Need some help Evans?"

"Not from you."

The last thing Lily wanted at this point was for James Potter to come around and distract her. She was only just finishing her first roll of parchment for her Potions assignment on the Draught of Peace, not having even started on her Charms or Defence Against the Dark Arts essays due.

"Come on, I've been getting better. You have to admit it."

"Maybe," Lily sighed, "but it doesn't mean I'll say yes. Don't even bother asking."

"What does he have that I don't, anyway?"

Lily rolled her eyes. At this rate, she wouldn't be able to get him to shut up until the O.W.L.'s were over. She had gone through this conversation with James at least once a week since they had met, and she was lucky if it was _only_ once a week. Then again, it was her fault for doing her homework in the common room, but Mary and the other girls were too busy rambling on about the Ball in their dormitories for her to get any work done there.

"I'm not going through this with you Potter."

"At least let me help you with your homework then? I don't need my future girlfriend dying under the weight of all these textbooks."

As much as Lily hated to admit it, having James there to help her get through the piles upon piles of work she had left was actually quite nice. She knew he was only doing it so that she would go out with him, but she was actually beginning to like this side of him. _No, _she thought, _this is still James Potter. He still did all those things you refuse him for._

"So..." he said, looking up from her Charms textbook, "how are you and Severus doing?"

Lily couldn't find an answer for a few minutes. He probably assumed she was ignoring him, but the truth was she didn't know quite how to respond, especially since this was probably the first time she had ever heard him call Severus by his real name.

"It's complicated." She said finally, quickly regretting saying anything.

"Don't say I didn't warn you."

"It's none of your business anyway Potter! You always act like you've done nothing wrong in your life either."

She had realized that she had just given James ammunition for attack on Severus. Whenever he got any hint of tension between the two, an attack always followed. She felt guilty doing so. _But then again_, she thought, _he hasn't been acting like a friend lately. Maybe he deserves it. _She shook her head slightly, feeling even guiltier for thinking he deserved something like that. She couldn't help but wonder if the stress was getting to her.

"Lily, I'm just trying to protect you."

"Well don't." She started to cool down again. "And don't go near him either."

"I won't if you don't want me to."

She narrowed her eyes at him, thinking Remus might have given him some sort of potion giving him some sort of common sense.

"I know that if I do," he continued, "then you'll never give me a chance."

Lily sighed. Potter always had a motive for doing things like this, that being the very reason most times.

Their conversation was interrupted by a light tapping on the window, a noise which could only come from an owl. Stepping carefully over the scattered parchment and textbooks, Lily made her way over to the window. Owls weren't supposed to bring letters to the common room or the dormitories of the students unless of emergency, but Lily automatically recognized the owl as Severus'. The scruffy owl looked exhausted from its journey, as it usually had. Severus didn't exactly have much money to go towards a pet, so this is what he had ended up with.

Lily unfolded the letter, making sure James wasn't reading over her shoulder.

_Lily,_

_I was wondering what time the dance starts on Friday. I'll have to meet you there; I've got some things I have to do first. _

_S_

Knowing there were still four days of classes before the Ball, Lily couldn't help but wonder why he couldn't have just asked her himself. She was really beginning to get tired of his little game. She decided to not answer back, instead going back to finishing her homework with Potter, a choice she never thought she'd be making.

~End of Chapter~

_Thanks as always for reading. Reviews are always welcome._

_A short chapter but the next will most likely be longer, and will probably be the last._

_Authors Note: I couldn't find the first time James asked Lily out, so he may or may not have started asking in their first year. Also, it doesn't say anywhere that Severus ever owned an owl, but for this fic he will :)_


	5. Christmas

_Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, I am not JK Rowling._

~1~

Lily couldn't believe Friday had come so fast, even with all the homework her teachers had been piling on. She wasn't sure how she'd had made her way through all of it. Mary hadn't stopped talking about the Christmas Ball since the topic had come up and Lily was almost convinced Remus would change his mind.

"So are you ready for tonight?" Mary leaned over and asked her, already fully dressed.

"Does it look like I am?"

Lily's last nerve was being far stretched tonight, though she wished she could have been in a better mood.

She hadn't even had the stress of packing for the Christmas holidays, but all the stress of the last week had really gotten to her. Her parents, along with her sister Petunia, were likely already on their way to France, a trip her family had been planning for over a year. Lily would have gone, except her parents could only find a place to stay for a week, starting before the break started. She couldn't afford to miss her classes, so instead, she was staying at Hogwarts.

"Sorry," Lily looked back over at Mary, "it's been a long week."

"That stupid Snape boy again? That's okay. You should come hang out with me and Remus. I mean Potter will probably drink himself into a coma before it even starts so you won't have to deal with him." Mary said. "Anyway speaking of Remus..."

Lily sat patiently listening to her overly cheery friend ramble on about her excitement, trying hard not to think about the recent events that had occurred between her and Severus. Tonight, she was going to try to forget about that and go back to the way things used to be between them.

"I have to go find Severus." Lily said, standing up after what seemed to be hours of Mary's droning on.

Her friend gave her nothing more than a small irritated sigh that she was so used to hearing when his name came up. She wished for once, someone would realize that Severus wasn't as bad as everyone made him out to be, though lately she was beginning to wonder. Maybe there was just something she wasn't seeing, something she didn't want to see in him that everyone else did.

~2~

By seven thirty, Lily had found her way back down to Great Hall. The dance wasn't due to start for another half hour, but she had hoped Severus would arrive early. It wasn't like she had much else to do anyway, and her head already needed a rest from Mary's constant chatter. Severus, as Lily should have suspected, was not anywhere to be seen.

She hoped Potter and Black wouldn't arrive early, though knowing them two, it wasn't likely. She had never seen them arrive on time let alone early, so she was sure to be safe from their immature pestering. Within five minutes, people had already starting pouring into the room, but she could still see no sign of Severus.

Pacing back and forth seemed to ease her mind, if only a little. Though Potter and Black were infamous for being late, Severus was most definitely the opposite. She only decided to cease pacing when she saw Remus and Mary arrive. Though listening to Mary again was not her ideal conversation idea at the moment, it was a more appealing option than standing around awkwardly waiting for her friend to arrive.

Before long, Lily found herself integrated in the crowd yet still alone. She couldn't fathom why Severus hadn't shown up, but by now she had given up. She could see Remus give her a sad look over Mary's shoulder every once in a while.

"Hey green eyes," James squeezed his way through several pairs, obviously intent on reaching her.

"What do you want Potter?"

"A dance perhaps?"

She rolled her eyes yet again, something that had become irritatingly common when James Potter opened his mouth around her.

"Oh come on Evans, just one?"

But she had become far too distracted to hear him continue; Severus had walked in, miserable looking and flanked by the last two people Lily had been wishing to see him with, Avery and Mulciber. Her heart sank, and she knew her night was not about to get any better. She couldn't understand how after all the years they had been friends, he could still choose those awful prats over her.

She shot him a sad sort of glare the second he caught her eye, and he automatically changed course for her. She didn't much _want _to speak to him, however she was tired of this game he had been playing and wanted answers.

"Who do you think you are coming around here, Snivellus?" James had stepped between them.

"Back off James, this isn't your business." Lily said. She had pulled him away, knowing how willing he would be to start something, especially if it meant embarrassing Snape in public.

He sighed and walked in Remus' direction, knowing interfering in Lily's conversations would give him less of a chance of going on a date with her.

"And where the hell have you been?"

He glanced nervously in the direction of the two Slytherin boys which he had entered with.

"Ugh, you know what? I give up." She felt herself getting worked up already. "I see that they're friendship is far more important than ours. Don't even bother coming near me anymore to me anymore."

"No, Lily. Wait!" His voice was cracked and bordering on panicked.

She turned around and grabbed his left arm. As she pulled up his sleeve, her eyes began to burn. The truth she had been so reluctant to accept in her old friend was right there, taking the form of a brand new Dark Mark. _I knew it, _she thought to herself, _maybe they were right, maybe they were all right._ Her face had fallen into a mixture of anger, disgust and hurt.

"I just..." He looked down at his arm, which was still in her iron tight grip. "I thought maybe if I became something big and impressive like James Potter than maybe you would stop looking at him for once and look at me."

"You thought this would make me happy!"

The room around them had become silent as everyone became aware of what was happening, stopping their dances to watch the events unfold.

"How could you think I would want you to become a killer, Severus?" she continued, barely holding back her tears. "I would never want anything like that for you, I thought you knew that."

She let his arm fall and stormed through the crowds of shocked people, not looking back even once.

~3~

"Lily? Are you okay?"

Someone had put their hand on her shoulder, making her jump a little. She wasn't sure how long she had been out by the lake; however to her, it had seemed like days.

"I don't want to talk to you James." She sighed.

He didn't leave though, but rather took a seat next to her, demonstrating again the persistence which drove her out of her mind most days.

"Listen, I'm sorry about what happened between you and Snape." He said.

He had caught her attention, and her teary green eyes finally looked over at him. It was shocking to hear James Potter call Severus by his real name, which made her wonder if maybe this time he was actually being sincere.

His arm made its way onto her shoulder but for now she didn't have the energy to change that, and maybe she was becoming okay with that. After all he had been making a decent effort for her, unlike some people she could mention.

"Maybe you're not _as_ bad as I thought you were." She said, giving in and laying her head on his shoulder and she could see a grin creep across his face as she did so.

"Does this mean you'll go on a date with me?" She simply rolled her eyes at him once again.

_Authors Note: There was an interview in which Rowling said that Snape may have been under the delusion that becoming a Death Eater would impress Lily, just if you're wondering where that motivation came from. Thank you guys so much for reading and reviewing and I hope you enjoyed it._


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